South Korean shares slump 7% on renewed selling in chipmakers, c.bank hikes rates

South Korea's KOSPI slumped 6.90% or 502 points to 6,781.97, erasing the previous session's gains, as heavy selling in chipmakers combined with a 25 basis point rate hike by the Bank of Korea to 2.75% aimed at supporting the won, which has weakened about 3% against the dollar this year. SK Hynix tumbled as much as 11.7% and Samsung Electronics fell 8.9%, and together account for over half the index weight; the steep decline triggered a sidecar trading curb that temporarily halted program trading.